Car makers seeking new revenue streams are offering drivers the ability to preorder coffee or make restaurant reservations on the move, raising safety concerns at a time when distracted driving is already at elevated levels.

General Motors Co.
GM -0.54%
late last year became the first major car maker to roll out such services through its Marketplace interface, allowing drivers to order takeout from Applebee’s, pay for gas at a nearby station and make hotel reservations via
Priceline.com
BKNG 1.10%
—all from the vehicle’s touch screen display.

Hyundai Motor Co.
is developing a similar system that it has tested with Applebee’s and
Chevron Corp.
gas stations.
BMW AG
offers a built-in app that lets drivers locate and pay for parking.

Analysts expect more car companies to link up with retailers, fast-food chains and other merchants to offer car owners the same kinds of e-commerce apps that have long been available on smartphones.

Auto industry executives see the new apps as an added convenience and revenue generator, with merchants paying to have their icons and discount deals displayed on the touch screen.

But safety advocates say such features only further contribute to driver distraction. After years of decline, the number of U.S. road deaths increased in 2015 and 2016, and safety groups say the rise is in part driven by smartphones and infotainment systems giving drivers more reason to take their eyes off the road.

Related

Auto makers “are trying to build cars that are like phones, rather than acknowledging that if you’re driving, you shouldn’t be trying to do these tasks at all,” said National Safety Council President Deborah Hersman.

Distracted driving claimed 3,450 lives in 2016, accounting for about 9% of the 37,461 road deaths record that year, according to the latest statistics available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some safety advocates say the number is likely higher because the cause of an accident isn’t always apparent.

GM and other car makers believe the on-screen features give drivers a safer option for performing tasks they admit to doing on their smartphone anyway while on the road. For example, many systems allow drivers to execute functions, such as sending and receiving a text, via voice commands, which helps them keep their hands on the wheel.

“We want to make sure we’re keeping our customers productive but also very safe,” said Brian Hoglund, director of commercial experience for GM’s connectivity business.

GM estimates that Americans spend an average of 46 minutes a day in their cars, a significant amount of captive time that is attractive to retailers. Companies from
Royal Dutch Shell
PLC to
Office Depot Inc.
have signed up.

Patrick Schneider, the owner of a 2017 Chevy Colorado pickup truck equipped with GM Marketplace, said such functions can at times be useful. He likes the option of paying for gasoline at Exxon stations without having to take out his credit card.

“Before I would just go to where I could find the cheapest gas,” Mr. Schneider said. “Now, it’s ‘Where’s the next closest Exxon station?’”

But other options can be more frustrating. In fiddling with the Dunkin’ Donuts app in his driveway, Mr. Schneider learned that while he can preorder a dozen doughnuts, it didn’t let him specify between glazed or chocolate.

“I did end up ordering but via my mobile phone” where it was possible to customize the selection, he said.

GM’s Mr. Hoglund said the menu limitation is by design. GM’s Marketplace is configured so that transactions are completed in five or fewer touch screen taps, on par with tuning to a satellite radio station, he said. Some functions are locked out or limited while the vehicle is in motion because they are too involved, like booking a hotel room. Drivers must also preload their credit card information with each merchant app ahead of time.

In a statement,
Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.,
said customers can pick their doughnut assortment on the Dunkin’ Donuts smartphone app and save it as a favorite, which then would appear on the vehicle’s Marketplace menu.

The auto industry’s move into e-commerce is still in early stages, but auto makers see it as part of a broader bid to monetize connected-car data and services, which McKinsey & Co. forecasts could generate global revenue of $750 billion by 2030.

With more cars rolling off dealer lots with built-in internet connections, the opportunity to add more retailing services will only grow over time, say auto executives and analysts. They also expected demand for such capabilities to increase as driverless technologies advance, freeing drivers to perform other tasks on the road.

Newsletter Sign-up

GM said it would use data from Marketplace to track trends among large numbers of users but won’t share data from individual users with retailers. GM’s Marketplace is now available in 2.5 million cars, giving drivers access to about a dozen merchants. Some display-screen apps also offer coupons, such as 10 cents off every gallon of gasoline purchased.

Xevo Inc., a Seattle-area software firm that worked with Hyundai and GM to build their systems, said it is working on voice commands to make the apps easier to use. It also uses machine learning to predict the features drivers may want most and make suggestions.

Revenue generation for auto makers from these apps is modest, falling between $20 and $60 per vehicle annually, according to an estimate from researcher IHS Markit. But longer term, auto makers see it as evolving into an important source of profit growth as vehicle sales eventually come under pressure from the rise of ride-hailing and other alternative forms of mobility.

Reviewers so far have been lukewarm on GM’s Marketplace. Strategy Analytics Inc., a market-research firm, concluded in an April the system “adds no value to the in-vehicle experience and is arguably unsafe.”